I had a persistent scammer approach me (under 3 different names) about my classified listing. He/they used the same basic bait: Willing to pay the asking price (no dickering, no interest in talking about the condition and history of the hang glider); Eager to send a check or pay by PayPal; Would have an agent handle shipping details and pick up the hang glider; The first two offers were written in broken/stilted english and their names could not be found on the internet. They also would not talk with me by phone, using barely plausible excuses for being out of cell range. I was suspicious enough to insist on talking by phone, and they gave up. The third contact was a little more polished, and his name checked out -- I was able to locate a soaring enthusiast in Georgia with the same name. I asked to talk with him by phone and he called me. However, the connection was too garbled to understand what he was saying. I called him at his Georgia number, still too garbled to communicate. He texted me and said he couldn't hear me either, but we could communicate by text message. I asked if he was the soaring enthusiast I had found by that name, and he said he was. So I agreed to sell to him. He said his shipping agent would handle the pick-up, and he would send me check, drawn on a local bank, by USPS registered mail and include enough to cover the shipping cost. The check arrived, and was made out for $8000.00. My asking price was $2500! I texted him and asked him to explain. He said he wanted me to cash the check and give the difference to his agent. I said the deal was off unless he called me on a functioning phone line to explain. He reluctantly agreed and when I could hear him clearly he not only had very poor english, he sounded just like most of the street venders selling fake watches and purses in Manhattan, who all tend hail from the same well known scam capitol of the world (trying to keep this politically correct). The police had no interest in any of this except to recommend that I post my experience here, in the hopes of alerting other possible sellers to the scam.

....he sounded just like most of the street venders selling fake watches and purses in Manhattan, who all tend hail from the same well known scam capitol of the world (trying to keep this politically correct)....

https://www.paypal.com/us/selfhelp/arti ... es-FAQ3022
Scams on Craigslist and Other Classifieds Websites
Although most online transactions are safe, you should use caution when selling items on websites such as Craigslist. Unfortunately, some people using these websites make promises regarding payments through PayPal but do not follow through with the payment. Look for common warning signs that someone may be trying to scam you:

The buyer can’t meet in person because of a number of reasons (i.e., they are a soldier in Iraq, they are a marine biologist, etc.).
The buyer requested you send the item to their “shipping agent.”
The buyer offered you more money than you were asking.
The buyer asked you to send money through Western Union or MoneyGram to the “shipping agent.”
The buyer only sends you text messages and won’t speak to you on the phone.
If you received an email seemingly from PayPal that states you received money, look for these signs to see if the email is a fake:
The email does not address you by your first and last name
The email says the money is on “hold” until you complete an action (i.e. send money through Western Union, or click a link to submit a tracking number).

You can easily see if you received money by logging in to your PayPal account (do not click any links within the email). If you’ve been paid you’ll see the payment in your account.